The present invention relates to a reusable device for securely holding at least one object during at least one operational phase of use of this (these) object(s).
Some equipment used on board satellites and spacecraft is fragile (for example instruments such as optical instruments, gyroscopes, deployable antennas, etc.) and runs the risk of being damaged during the launch during which the satellites are subjected to shocks or very high accelerations.
In order to prevent such damage, systems known as stacking systems are generally employed, these immobilizing this equipment against a functional surface firmly fixed to the structure of the satellite. Certain satellite internal arrangements prevent or complicate access to the stacking systems (for example after “ground” trials). This access is needed, because most present-day stacking systems employ either fusible components or elements that can be retracted (or repackaged and require intervention). As a result, once destacked, these systems do not allow automatically repackaging for future use. In addition, numerous instruments that have to be stacked, or surrounding subassemblies, are often sensitive to the shocks produced by the pyrotechnic destacking components.
At the present time, the proposed systems for releasing the stacking ties essentially comprise systems based on the tensioning (pulling) of a tie rod. Release of the tie rod causes the object that is to be stacked to separate from the functional surface. The repackaging of this type of stacking, with a view to reuse during the same flight, entails human intervention.